INDEPENDENT COMMITTEE TO REVIEW IPCC PROCEDURES REVIEWED
The IPCC strives to ensure that its procedures for use of published material in the
preparation of its assessment reports are followed in all respects, but we recognise the criticism that has been levelled at us and the need to respond, writes Rajendra K. Pachauri, IPCC Chairman (27/2/10).
While embarking on the preparation of its Fifth Assessment Report it was the intention of the IPCC that an independent committee of distinguished experts evaluate means by which IPCC procedures must be implemented fully and that they should also examine any changes in procedure that may be required. The proposal to set up such an independent committee was conveyed to governments by the IPCC Secretariat in a communication on February 16.
Further, during the 11th Session of the Governing Council/ Global Ministerial Environment Forum convened by the United Nations Environment Program in Bali during February 24-26, IPCC pursued interaction with governments and the UN to establish an independent review of the IPCC procedures as proposed. The mechanism by which such an independent review will take place is under active consideration.
Meanwhile, he says the IPCC stands firmly behind the rigour and robustness of the 4th Assessment Report’s conclusions, and is encouraged by the support demonstrated recently by scientists and governments around the world.
The 4th Assessment Report’s key conclusions were based on an overwhelming body of evidence from thousands of peer-reviewed and independent scientific studies. Most significantly, they rest on multiple lines of analysis and datasets.
Details on the mechanism for setting up the proposed independent review will be shared sometime in early March.
SCIENTIST ADMITS LEAKED EMAILS WERE 'PRETTY AWFUL'
The academic at the centre of the ‘climategate’ controversy over leaked university emails admitted that some of his correspondence had been "pretty awful", the London Independent reported (2/3/10).
Professor Phil Jones, the head of the of the Climatic Research Unit at the University of East Anglia (UEA), made the remark to a powerful cross-party committee of MPs, when challenged about saying he would not release data to a climate sceptic, "because all he wants to do is find something wrong with it."
Defending himself in public for the first time, Professor Jones faced a fierce grilling from the UK House of Commons Science and Technology Committee about the emails hacked from UEA computers, which critics say are evidence of how climate scientists continually obstruct requests for information.
HOW THE AFP WILL POLICE THE CARBON POLLUTION REDUCTION SCHEME
The Australian Federal Police (AFP) is liaising regularly with the Department of Climate Change and the Attorney- General’s Department on the law enforcement implications of the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme, an AFP media release stated (3/3/10).
The Australian Federal Police (AFP) is liaising regularly with the Department of Climate Change and the Attorney- General’s Department on the law enforcement implications of the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme, an AFP media release stated (3/3/10).
As the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme (CPRS) Bill 2010 is yet to be passed by Parliament, and there still may be amendments made to the Bill, it would not be appropriate to comment on specifics of the AFP role, it states.
The AFP had not provided a warning to the Australian Government as stated in the Courier Mail (1/3/10). However, it was recognised that organised crime groups may infiltrate any commodity where significant profit can be made; that emissions trading may create opportunities for individuals and organisations to commit fraud related activity and the potential for fraud will need to be managed as the market increases over time.
The AFP does not anticipate that the CPRS will create any ‘new’ crime types, but possibly a new commodity that could be exploited.
CPRS offences will be similar to crime types relevant to existing financial markets such as - Obtain property/financial advantage by deception (Criminal Code Act 1995 (Cth) (Criminal Code) - Falsification of Certificates including forgery (Criminal Code , and Corruption of/by Inspectors including bribery and Abuse of Public Office (Criminal Code).
The AFP has not requested any specific funding for the AFP to support CPRS related referrals that may be made when legislation is introduced and the Australian Climate Change Regulatory Authority is operational. However, during the 2008 Federal Budget, the Australian Government provided funding for the AFP to underpin a plan to recruit 500 police officers over five years. REPORT: http://www.afp.gov.au/media_releases/national/2010/how_the_afp_will_police_the_carbon_pollution_reduction_scheme.html
WHALING RESULTS IN ‘RELEASE OF TONNES OF CARBON’
A century of whaling may have released more than 100 million tonnes - or a large forest's worth - of carbon into the atmosphere, scientists say, the BBC reported (26/2/10). Whales store carbon within their huge bodies and when they are killed, much of this carbon can be released. US scientists revealed their estimate of carbon released by whaling at a major ocean sciences meeting in the US.
Dr Andrew Pershing from the University of Maine described whales as the "forests of the ocean". He and his colleagues from the Gulf of Maine Research Institute calculated the annual carbon-storing capacity of whales as they grew.
"Whales, like any animal or plant on the planet, are made out of a lot of carbon," he said.
"And when you kill and remove a whale from the ocean, that's removing carbon from this storage system and possibly sending it into the atmosphere." REPORT: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8538033.stm
RENEWABLE ENERGY TARGET REVAMP WELCOMED
The Australian Government’s decision to revamp the Renewable Energy Target (RET) is welcome and should provide greater investor certainty needed for large-scale renewable energy projects, the Climate Institute said (26/2/10).
“We don’t yet have all the details of the proposed changes, but it appears many of the problems of the old RET scheme will be ironed out,” said John Connor, Climate Institute CEO.
“The changes should provide greater investment certainty and incentives for large-scale renewable energy projects that will drive innovation, employment and development in important clean-energy, low-carbon industries.”
“We don’t yet have all the details of the proposed changes, but it appears many of the problems of the old RET scheme will be ironed out,” said John Connor, Climate Institute CEO.
“The changes should provide greater investment certainty and incentives for large-scale renewable energy projects that will drive innovation, employment and development in important clean-energy, low-carbon industries.”
The Climate Institute said that while the RET was an important jigsaw piece in Australia’s low-carbon economy it needed to be complimented by other measures to drive down Australia’s rising emissions.
“The RET alone would achieve the equivalent of just one twelfth of the total emission reductions needed to achieve the 25% emission-reduction target, that both parties agree is in Australia’s national interest,” Mr Connor said.
Solutions must include:
a market mechanism that puts a price on carbon pollution - an emissions trading scheme – to drive long- term economy-wide structural reform;
Stronger mechanisms to drive energy efficiency;
Support for emerging technologies where Australia has potential comparative advantage in areas such as geo-thermal and solar;
Workplace skills and training; and
Measures to prepare low-income families to adapt both to the impact of climate change and the economic transition to a low-carbon economy.
REPORT:
http://www.climateinstitute.org.au/index.php?option=com_content&view=section&layout=blog&id=1&Itemid=9
AGRICULTURAL OFFSETS COULD PROVIDE OPPORTUNITIES
Allowing agricultural offsets in Australia’s Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme (CPRS) will provide opportunities and challenges for Australian farmers, delegates at the ABARE Outlook Conference in Canberra were told in the session on agriculture and greenhouse gas emissions (3/3/10).
Dr Helal Ahammad, General Manager of the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics (ABARE) Climate Change and Environment Branch, presented new analysis showing Australian agriculture is likely to benefit from the emissions offsets provision included in the government’s proposed climate change policy.
“The most emissions intensive industries, such as beef cattle and sheep meat, have the most to gain from an agriculture emissions offsets provision,” Dr Ahammad said.
“There is a lot of uncertainty surrounding the potential for agriculture to generate emissions offsets, but what is clear is that offsets will provide an additional revenue source for many Australian agricultural producers.”
However, Associate Professor Richard Eckard of the University of Melbourne and the Victorian Department of Primary Industry, warned that global agricultural emissions may still rise despite the implementation of abatement policies. REPORT: http://www.abareconomics.com/corporate/media/2010_releases/ol_2mar_6_10.html
NEW LONG-TERM CONTRACT FOR BROWN COAL ANNOUNCED
The biggest consumer of Victoria's brown-coal-fired electricity is to continue operating for decades after the surprise announcement of a long-term power deal for Alcoa's controversial aluminum smelters, The Age reported (2/3/10). Unions were celebrating and environmentalists reeling with the news that aluminum giant Alcoa, Victoria's biggest exporter, had signed electricity contracts with generator Loy Yang Power for the smelters at Portland and Point Henry, near Geelong, until 2036. The existing power contracts expire in 2016 and 2014.
REPORT: http://www.theage.com.au/environment/alcoa-deal-locks-in-jobs--and-emissions-20100301-pdl8.html
A NATURAL CHOICE
In America’s climate debate, one of the most promising developments of recent months has been the growing recognition in Washington that natural gas may play a key role in curbing carbon emissions, says a Washington Post editorial (28/2/10). The resurgence of gas comes through the discovery of massive deposits in Appalachian shale formations and elsewhere - a reserve that offers the prospect of stable domestic supplies and relatively low prices. Since burning natural gas produces half the emissions of burning coal, switching the two fuels could put a significant dent in America's carbon footprint.
The rumour this month was that such arguments had swayed the White House and that President Obama would back policy aimed at discouraging coal and encouraging natural gas at a speech he delivered to the Business Roundtable on Wednesday. The rumors didn't bear out. That's too bad. With climate-change legislation still stalled in Congress, nudging gas forward is something that the government can do quickly and relatively cheaply to meet its medium-term emissions goals if current trends persist.
EDITORIAL: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp- dyn/content/article/2010/02/27/AR2010022702804.html?wpisrc=nl_pmopinions